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WORLD NEWS Friday 19 January 2018
Powerful gale lashes Europe, 7 dead amid traffic chaos

By MIKE CORDER ment block in Rotterdam.
Associated Press Water authorities in the
THE HAGUE, Netherlands low-lying nation closed
(AP) — A powerful storm an inflatable storm barrier
pummeled Europe with east of Amsterdam to pre-
high winds and snow Thurs- vent flooding as the storm
day, killing at least seven pushed up water levels.
people in three countries, Traffic on Dutch roads was
grounding flights, halt- plunged into chaos, with
ing trains, ripping roofs off the wind blowing over trac-
buildings and flipping over tor trailers, toppling trees
trucks. and hampering efforts to
The Dutch national weath- clean up the mess.
er service recorded wind In Amsterdam, authorities
gusts of up to 140 kph (87 temporarily halted all trams
mph) in the southern port and closed the city’s zoo.
of Hook of Holland as the Before halting all trains, the
storm passed over. Dutch rail service reported
Amsterdam’s Schiphol numerous incidents includ-
briefly halted flights for an ing a collision between a
hour in the morning, and train and a trampoline.
airline KLM scrapped more In neighboring Belgium, the
than 200 flights even be- port of Ghent closed down
fore the storm arrived. A man who escaped unharmed makes a phone call after his scooter was hit by a crashing tree because of the high winds
uprooted by heavy winds in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Scores of flights
Trains were halted across and trains were cancelled in The Netherlands and drivers were warned to stay off the roads as the and tram traffic was halted
the nation and in Germa- country took a powerful hit of a storm which was set to lash large parts of Europe. in parts of Brussels.q
ny. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Falling trees killed two ing the driver.
62-year-old men in the Police spokeswoman Jose
Netherlands, a woman Albers told Dutch national
south of the Belgian capi- broadcaster NOS that au-
tal of Brussels, a 59-year- thorities also were investi-
old man camping in the gating whether the power-
German town of Emmerich ful gusts were to blame for
and a firefighter in the Ger- the death of a 66-year-old
man town of Bad Salzun- man who fell through a
gen. plexiglass roof in the cen-
In Lippstadt, in western Ger- tral town of Vuren.
many, a driver died when Social media in the Neth-
he lost control of his van erlands was flooded with
in strong winds and drove images of people being
into oncoming traffic. blown from their bicycles,
In German’s eastern state cargo containers falling
of Brandenburg, police off a ship and damage to
said a gust of wind flipped buildings, including a roof
a truck over a highway, kill- that peeled off an apart-
EU official: Greece closing

in on end of bailout years

By RAF CASERT the way for the program to
ELENA BECATOROS end in August.
Associated Press The official, who spoke only
BRUSSELS (AP) — A senior EU on condition of anonymity
official says Greece is close because the ministers still
to passing its next bailout had to meet on Monday,
review, putting the country said that the disbursement
within reach of ending its of “between 6 and 7 bil-
eight-year rescue program lion” euros ($7.3 billion and
that saved it from bank- $8.6 billion) would start in
ruptcy but required hugely the second half of Febru-
painful austerity cuts. ary.
The official said that eu- Once the current review is
rozone finance ministers completed, the “final re-
meeting next week had view will take place in the
“a great willingness to say subsequent months and
that, basically, nearly ev- the final decisions to be
erything had been done” taken then in June in time
to complete Greece’s lat- for the termination of the
est bailout review. program in August,” the of-
That would further pave ficial said.q